To Live in Die in LA:Book Two-Part Ten
And they lived happily ever after.
That was how this was supposed to end. That was the ending that everyone had earned. They had fought the good fight, slain the dragon and even brought the incredibly tall prince back to life. The end of that story should have been…and they lived happily ever after.
But as Faith had found out more than once, life was not a fairy tale.
Everyone was still in that euphoric haze that came with coming back from the dead (it seemed to be a new experience for the Winchesters) when the team of guys dressed in the military black camos came out of the office. Faith noticed with a raised eyebrow how both John and Bobby adjusted their stance slightly, their hands resting closer to their guns automatically. For all that she had her eyes trained to the hunters, she was not one hundred percent sure where she stood on things. Part of her, most of her- said she was standing where Dean stood and would sort the mess from there on. She more than owed it to him. Even if there was no 'them'- Dean deserved to get out of this intact- with his small family by his side.
The men still had their weapons raised as the man in charge surveyed the room. Giles held up a hand and moved towards them "It’s ok." he said interposing himself between the Winchesters and the men "Stand down, everything is ok."
But the men didn’t stand down and everything was not ok.
The squad leader pulled the face mask off after taking off his goggles. His hair was matted down from sweat and he looked a bit flushed from all the action. He looked at Giles and then his eyes flashed to Sam, still lying on the floor with Dean helping him sit up. When he looked back to Giles he gave him a silent look as if to say "We need to talk."
Problem was John had seen the same look.
"You have a problem with my son?" he said taking a step behind Giles, who was barely able to stop him from pushing past him.
"Rupert" the man said in a cultured British accent "A moment please?"
Giles and the man stared at each other in silence for a good ten seconds before he sighed and said "In the office then." and gestured to the open door.
John almost instantly grabbed his shoulder and said "If there is any talk about Sam…"
The squad leader interrupted "This is Watcher Council’s business…" which brought a snarl to the older Winchester’s face when Giles simply said "Of course you can join us, John." he locked eyes with the other watcher "This is his business as well."
The man looked like he wanted to argue but then turned to his men "Fan out, secure the perimeter." and to another set of four "Lock down the lobby, I don’t want anyone in or out." His eyes danced over Sam, Dean and Bobby but he didn’t say anything.
Faith felt herself grip the axe tightly as she stood up "What the hell!" she called out "These people are the good guys! They just helped save the world."
The undisguised look of disgust that passed over the man’s features brought ice water to her veins for a moment as he said "I am completely uninterested in what you consider good or bad, thank you."
Faith froze, mouth half open as Dean scowled from the floor. The room was quiet, frozen with tension when a feeble but still a sarcastic voice said "Dick much?"
The man looked over at Buffy who was sitting up with Willow’s help. Realizing he was losing this battle he turned on his heel and walked into the office; John and Giles closely following him.
The door closed as Dean looked up at Faith "What the hell was that about?" Faith just shrugged as she watched the room, but she was lying as she made sure not to look at Sam.
She could not take Dean's moment away by sharing with him her theories about his brother. That was all she had. Ideas. Nothing definite or proven. It wouldn't do anything but make things worse, she told herself, and if it made her feel less of a traitor for biting her tongue- she could not help that. Would Dean kill the messenger if the messenger was saying Sam was a demon?
Possibly.
To protect his brother and to stop it from being said again, Dean might endanger himself. Faith was not concerned that he would attack her- no- but the armed men from the Watcher's Council? It could go real bad real fast. So she held her tongue and silently hoped Willow would do the same.
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"What the hell do you think you’re doing?" John said in a low tone as the door closed. The other watcher leaned against the huge wooden desk, looking at the older hunter with the most patient look he could muster.
"Excuse me sir but I don’t answer to you." and he turned to Giles "I do not answer to you either." he said stiffly.
"Be that as it may." Giles said securing the man with a look "You will explain what exactly you plan to do next."
"I plan on taking that…" he paused looking out towards the lobby "…that boy into custody. He is a clear and present supernatural threat."
"What?" John roared "Have you lost your god damned mind?" John’s presence was intense as he crowded towards the watcher. He took a half step and in a move that Giles had to admit was flawless, the other man pulled his pistol out in one neat motion, aiming it directly at John’s eye.
In that smug English accent he said "Please step back, sir." It was obvious the way the man’s hand did not waver or shake; he was fully willing and capable of pulling the trigger. When John didn’t as much blink he said "Your son is not human." he said it so plainly, so completely blasé that it was obvious John didn’t even understand what he was trying to get across.
And then from his eyes it was obvious he got it.
And in a move that Giles had to admit was beyond flawless John whipped a hand out, grabbing the gun in one motion and the man’s wrist in another. In one economical burst of movement he had the watcher down on the ground with his face plastered to the run. His pistol jammed into the base of his skull "You ever" he said through clenched teeth "Say anything about my son like that again and there will not be enough left to fill a doggie bag." he pushed the gun in harder to make his point "You got that. Ever."
Giles had to give the other watcher credit; he did not call out or say anything. He simply laid there and waited for the man to finish. In a low voice Giles said "I’m sorry, Mr. Winchester, but he is right."
John paused and looked back over his shoulder at Giles, his eyes wide with shock. Which was more than enough time for the other watcher to knock the gun out of his hands and get to his feet. But John didn’t move or react, he simply kept staring at Giles in disbelief.
"I am very sorry, John." Giles said "But it’s the truth."
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After a few moments Dean stopped glaring at the door and went back to caring for Sam. "You ok?" he asked in a voice that made Faith smile "You wanna try to stand?"
Sam nodded but didn’t say anything. He simply tightened his arm around Dean’s neck and tried to get his feet under him. Normally Faith would have thought balancing all those legs might have been a chore, but after coming back from the dead…no way it was happening easy. Sam had to get used to his gangly body again, find his balance.
Sure enough Sam began to take a tumble and Faith moved in on his other side. His arm went around her automatically as Dean and Faith were both doing their part to make him vertical. "Hold on…" she said making sure he was steady enough to try again. She looked over and caught Dean beaming at her in the moment; she could only guess how much it meant for him to allow someone else to help Sam. Together they got him to a chair and sat him down, Dean guiding him with his voice the entire time like he was guiding a truck.
"Ok…going down…slowly…slowly…" he went on until Sam’s ass made contact with the chair. With a sigh all three of them disengaged, Dean’s hands hovering around Sam to make sure he didn’t topple over.
Sam weakly slapped his brother’s hands away "I’m not an invalid." he said holding on to the edge of the chair for dear life.
Dean batted Sam’s hands with a bit more force and said "Hands off ,slappy…you’re hurt."
"Not that hurt." Sam shot back, his jaw sticking out in defiance.
"You’re more hurt than you think." Dean countered.
"I’m fine!" Sam shot back.
Dean’s mouth opened to retort when Faith interjected "Ladies!" she called out "Seriously…do you guys need a room?"
Both of them looked at her for a second, their scowls were identical for being so different. Dean said under his breath "That isn’t funny."
"Damn funny to me." Bobby said walking over. He slapped Sam on the back of his head "You just came back from the dead ijiot." Sam yelped as he rubbed the back of his head "Give yourself some time." and he looked up at Dean "And he’s alive and safe." Bobby smiled "So it’s ok."
Dean kept staring at Bobby for several seconds before he let out a long breath he hadn’t known he was holding. His shoulders slumped as he stood up and murmured "Thanks, Bobby."
The older man just nodded as he began to examine Sam.
He turned back to Faith with a small smile "Hi"
"Hi yourself" she said smiling back. He put his arms around her and she couldn’t help but return the favor.
His forehead leaned against hers "Did I say thanks yet?"
She leaned into him and laughed "Yes"
"Have I said I am grateful for everything you’ve done?"
She nodded.
He said in a lower voice "Have I showed you how grateful I am?"
She looked up into his eyes and grinned, wondering if a girl could have an orgasm from Dean talking like he was. The look on his face was making her heart go into hyperspeed. "Not yet."
"That’s gonna have to change." he said in a tone that exuded pure sex.
Which was when the sound of gunfire and screaming came from the elevator. Both Faith and Dean moved in front of Sam and Buffy as the sounds grew louder. Over her shoulder Faith said "Willow?"
The witch’s voice called back "On it." A shimmer of light fell upon the lobby, encircling Willow, Buffy, Sam and Bobby. Faith looked over to Dean and he nodded back. They both looked at the door and waited. There was the sound of more shouting and then silence as they all stood in rigid readiness. Faith silently admired that Dean knew the score, that there was no off the clock time in their lives. Not really.
The elevator pinged as both Dean and Faith reared back.
As the doors slid open there was an incredibly beautiful man standing there with dark hair and wearing a floor length leather duster. In his hands he carried Jessica’s unconscious form, on the floor was the watcher’s team out cold. The rest of the team cocked their weapons as half a dozen red dots appeared on his chest.
Dean was ready to throw down as Faith dropped the axe in shock "Angel?"
He looked at the men and then nodded "Faith" he held out Jessica "This belong to you?"
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"Define not human?" John said in a dangerous tone.
Giles began to explain "He has demon blood in him. He is infected on a level that cannot be reversed." he sat down as he sighed "I am afraid that Azazel has changed him."
John continued to ignore the other watcher as he asked "Changed him how?"
Giles paused for a moment "Changed as in he is closer to demon than human." he said "He has demon blood, powers and a unique name. Which was how I pulled his soul back into his body." he looked at John with tired eyes "I didn’t resurrect him; I summoned him back into his body."
John rocked back and placed a hand on the desk as he steadied himself. The room was silent as the other watcher said "He is a danger to everyone around him." he said "If he was to somehow able to tap those powers…" he trailed off, not able to finish his sentence.
"Sam has the potential to do great harm." Giles said "But that is not an eventuality."
John looked up quickly "What?"
"We don’t know that." the other watcher said but Giles ignored him "It is a potential, not a sure thing."
"How do we stop it?" John asked quickly.
"It’s not that easy." Giles said taking his glasses off and cleaning it "It isn’t a thing you can stop." he looked up "Only dissuade."
John paused and said slowly "You mean…it will always be there…"
Giles finished for him "…but if he was free of a lifestyle of stress and risk, the odds of those powers coming to light…"
"You mean being a hunter?" John asked.
Giles nodded.
"We aren’t talking about this." the watcher said "We are bringing him into custody. The fact he can be brought back using a spell like that only shows he is a dangerous entity that must…"
"Call the council." Giles said suddenly "Call them and make sure."
"My orders are very clear..." he began to say.
Giles stood up and gave him a look that had backed down major demons in his time "Call. The. Council."
The man looked to argue and then pressed his hand to his ear "Council one this is Rogue one, come in please."
There was a pause as the council communicated back. The man then said "I am requesting clarification on subject Winchester, Sam. Do I have a retrieval order?"
Another pause and the man’s face went pale "Pardon council one, can you repeat?" Another pause and the man said "But council one, the subject is a clear and…" they could all hear the voice from the earpiece from where they stood and the man made a face as the shouting obviously pained him. Finally he said in a low voice "Copy that council one, rogue one out." the man sighed and looked over to Giles "We have order to leave him alone."
Giles tried not to smile as he said "Really?"
The man nodded "They sited…Yellow Crayon Protocol?"
Giles raised a hand to his mouth as he said "Well then…let it be done."
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Wesley turned off the communication console and asked "You liked that didn’t you?"
The man in the newly tailored suit put his feet up on the table and smiled "I really did."
Wesley walked by and slapped at his feet "You are a watcher now." he said "Act like it."
Xander put his feet down and grinned "Come on, you’re just mad because I thought of calling John and you didn’t."
Wesley didn’t say anything but he did smile back as he sat down "Whatever happens with Sam Winchester now falls on you. From this point on whatever maybe happen…"
Xander held his hand up "Faith believes in him." he said "The same way I believed in Willow." He put his hands behind his head "What can I say? I am a sucker for happy endings."
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Dean took Jessica from the guy and was shocked to see Faith move forward to hug him. Angel hugged her back and she whispered "Watcher’s council, Giles is in the office."
"She ok?" he whispered back.
She nodded "Walk towards the field, Willow will let you in."
He smiled back "You got this?"
She looked back at him "What do you think?"
Angel let her go and strode towards the field. The sound of one of the watcher’s council called out for him to stop but he didn’t hesitate as the field passed over him. One of the tried to move in and found the field more than solid.
"Friend of yours?" Dean asked her from behind, his voice was low and it was obviously pissed.
She turned around and cocked her head. Dean was jealous and a little possessive. She wanted to drag him into a corner and make him way too blissed out to wonder who she was into. She let the thoughts slide into her eyes before she shook her head and smiled archly. "That one? That one is Buffy’s." He stood there holding Jessica as she went on "Like that one is Sam’s." she took Jessica from Dean and kissed him "Like you are mine."
Dean kissed her back and smirked "You mean like you are mine."
She raised an eyebrow "We’ll see." she walked over to Sam and laid Jessica down next to him. The look of relief on his face was so much like Dean’s…Faith smiled as she understood she was seeing the start of something special.
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Buffy woke up slowly.
She looked up and a blurry form looked down at her. She squinted her eyes "Willow…did you do something with your…" and her vision cleared.
And she stopped breathing.
He looked exactly the same as he had the first day she met him. Those eyes, that smile, that hair…she just smiled and said "You came."
He just nodded and said softly "Of course."
She paused and then said "I died again."
"You keep doing that." he said.
"Yeah…kind of an occupational hazard right?" she said. She saw his face darken for a moment and she sat up "What?"
There was no one on Earth that lied worse than Angel. There was something about his soul that seemed to just turn itself away from lies and falsehoods. She asked again "What is it?"
He moved a strand of hair out of her face "You…smell different."
She tried not to sigh as she said "What have I said about the smelling thing?"
He shook his head "Close your eyes." She stared at him for a long few seconds and he said "Trust me. Close your eyes." Trust was not an issue when it came to him and she closed her eyes. She heard him ask "Now…can you sense me?"
She went to ask what he was talking about when she noticed. Her stomach wasn’t knotted, she felt nothing odd as he held her. She opened her eyes in shock and realized…she couldn’t tell he was a vampire. She asked in shock "You…you’re still…um dead right?" He nodded.
"Oh" she said softly as she realized…she wasn’t a slayer any more.
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They all walked out of the office as one.
The other watcher signaled the team to drop their weapons as John walked over to his sons. He looked at Dean "I need that pistol."
Dean looked at him in confusion and then remembered the old style six shooter he had pulled from his father’s belt. He handed it over and John turned to Giles. "You sure you won’t let me keep this?"
Giles smiled and nodded "I am afraid that Colt is a very old and very powerful artifact. It belongs to one of our oldest agents." he took the pistol gently "You happens to be a hunter now." he said off handedly "Maybe you know him…Elkins?" John went to say no when he caught Giles’ look. The watcher said "There is absolutely no way the watcher’s council would lend you this gun to go after Azazel should he ever return." and he leaned in "But maybe a hunter might."
John was quiet for several seconds and then he said over his shoulder "Ok, let’s head out."
Both Sam and Dean looked up at their dad. Sam said "I need to get her back to Stanford…I mean we both need to…"
John held up a hand "You are going to college. I get it Sam." he looked at Dean "You ready?"
Dean looked at him and then to Faith. Without making eye contact he said "No sir, I have…I mean…" he swallowed and then looked at him "I’m staying here for a while."
John paused and then looked over to Faith, who just stood there and smiled. He looked like he was going to say something and then Bobby walked up to John and whispered something in his ear. After a second John nodded and said "Ok then, come on Sam. Let’s get you two back." Sam picked Jessica up as John and Bobby walked towards the elevator.
Sam leaned in towards Dean "I like her." Dean nodded as Sam continued "So do yourself a favor. Don’t be yourself and screw this up." Dean made a face as Sam smirked at him and added "Thanks for coming to get me." he said "It was fun…one last time."
"Last?" Dean asked. Sam looked down at Jessica "Yeah…last." Dean looked like he was about to start an argument when John called out "Come on Sam…we’re burning daylight." Sam shrugged and walked out carrying Jessica. Dean stood opened mouthed as the elevator closed.
Faith walked over to him and out a hand around his shoulder "You ok?"
"Last?" he sputtered looking at the elevator.
Faith drew him close "Give him some time, Dean. Sam needs to ...you know... have some Sam time? Get to be a man and have a girlfriend. Go to some classes. It's like his thing. Besides...after the day he had? Calling it fun? I think he'll want to play some more...just...for now..." she said pulling him into a kiss "He wants to spread his legs some."
Dean sighed as he said "Hell of a lot of legs."
She was about to kiss him when Buffy and Angel walked towards them. "Faith?"
"Damnit" she muttered as she pulled back from Dean "What’s up?"
"We need to talk." Buffy said, Angel was still letting her lean against him.
"Talk away." she said leaning up against Dean herself. It was nice having a lean to. Buffy sighed as she was about to say something and Faith realized she was still holding the axe "Oh here" she said handing it back "This is yours."
Buffy looked her directly in the eyes and said seriously "No. Not any more it isn’t."
Faith swallowed hard as Buffy began to explain.
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Dean sat in the office trying not to lose his cool.
They had been talking for over an hour now and it obviously wasn’t good news. The English guy had made a lot of oh my noises and cleaned his glasses like twice and the red head had looked at the axe and then to Buffy like someone had died. Whatever it was it was serious and it didn’t involve him. He had walked away and searched the office for something to drink. Finding a 70 year old bottle of scotch he had found the view from this high up relaxing.
72 minutes and half a bottle later Faith walked back in, she looked like she had just been told she had six months to live. He noticed she still held the axe. She came over and sat on his lap, taking the tumbler from his hand and finishing it. She leaned up against his chest as he pulled her close and played with her hair.
He asked in a very level voice "You’re going back with them."
It wasn’t a question, but a statement.
She nodded as they continued to watch the L.A. skyline "I have to."
He nodded but said nothing as they stared.
After a few minutes she said "I’m the slayer now." her voice sounded very far away "Well the only real slayer left. Buffy is just a girl." she sounded jealous.
"Ok" he said tightly. He tried not to sigh himself.
She leaned up "I don’t have to you know." she said "We can just ditch them and take off." her voice was rushed almost desperate "Just you and me…the open road…gone."
He smiled but she noticed it didn’t reach his eyes "No." was all he said "You can’t do that."
"Yes I can." she said tears forming in her eyes. For him, to erase that look from his eyes? She would do it. God, for herself, she'd do it, because she had Dean...or nearly had him before her life slammed around her like steel bars.
He cupped her face with his hands and smiled "Look Faith. You have been running form this your entire life." she wanted to pull back and ask him what he knew about her damn life…but she could see it in his eyes…he knew. "You want to be wanted and you need to be accepted…but every time you get close you run away from it." He jerked a thumb back towards the lobby "Those people, they need you right now. And you want to help them." he smiled and his face lit up "You want to help them so bad." he touched her lip with his thumb and said "I’m not going nowhere." he said "You need to go. Go." and he leaned in and kissed her cheek, catching one tear as it fell "I can wait."
She felt her head go down; she couldn’t look him in the eyes "I can’t ask you to wait."
He held her chin up and forced her to look at him "Who said you were asking." He pulled her in for a kiss and her arms wrapped around him. As the sun set on L.A. they knew this wasn’t the end of anything.
This was just the end of right now.
Previously on To Live in Die in L.A.
Prelude// Part One// Part Two/ Part Three/ Part Four/ Part Five/ Part Six/ Part Seven/ Part Eight/ Part Nine/ Part Ten